Q&A with Laurence Fishburne

The 41-year-old actor who played Morpheus in the The Matrix takes a spin as the King of Cali in Biker Boyz, a modern Western about an underground African-American motorcycle club, which opens on Jan. 31.

Laurence Fishburne. Dreamworks

SI: If you could do anything athletically, what would you choose?

Fishburne: Just pure physicality, man. I would love to be one of those triathletes. That seems to me to be the zenith. The level of physical prowess and strength and endurance that those people have ... it's ridiculous.

SI: Did you spend much time with motorcycle clubs during the filming of Biker Boyz?

Fishburne: All of the extras in the movie are club members so we spent our whole summer with them.

SI: The public is used to biker movies featuring a fat guy with sideburns on a hog, or Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda speeding down the highway. How is this movie different?

Fishburne: This movie is about people who have jobs. They have families, responsibilities, and it's about a community. It's a living, breathing, thriving community of people who look out for each other and who have ethics and a code. They're not just out there doing tricks and being outlaws.

SI: Are there similarities between what you do and what a professional athlete does?

Fishburne: Certainly in the entertainment aspect of it. We entertain. And we provide drama.

SI: I read that you enjoy scuba diving. What other physical things do you enjoy?

Fishburne: I like working out. I'm not the guy who plays ball. I don't golf. I don't ski. I like scuba diving and I like motorcycle riding because I don't have to talk to anybody.

SI: You started acting at a very young age. Were sports a part of your childhood at all?

Fishburne: Not for very long. Acting ended whatever kind of sports career I may have had.

SI: Can Kid Rock, your Biker Boyz co-star, really ride a bike?

Fishburne: Oh yeah. He's pretty good. I thought he was really great in the movie, too.

SI: Your wife, Gina Torres, is an actress and one of your costars in the upcoming sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, due in theaters in May and November of 2003, respectively. As a Hollywood couple, do you have any advice for J. Lo and Ben?

Fishburne: I wouldn't be so presumptuous to try and give them any advice.

SI: Are you still getting mistaken for Samuel L. Jackson?

Fishburne: It hasn't happened in quite a while.

SI: You've done three movies with a basketball connection: Cornbread, Earl and Me and Fast Break and did the voiceover for Michael Jordan to the Max. Does basketball hold a particular appeal to you?

Fishburne: I'm not a sports fan, but everybody's a Michael Jordan fan.

SI: Did you get to spend any time with Jordan?

Fishburne: I've met Michael only once or twice. But from what I've heard, he loved The Matrix, and he loves my voice and he asked that I be the person to narrate the film.

SI: Let's say your Matrix character Morpheus was in the NBA. How good would he be?

Fishburne: (laughs) Well, let's see. How good would he be? I don't know. Who are the two best guys in the NBA?

SI: Maybe Shaq or Tracy McGrady or Kobe Bryant.

Fishburne: But who's the best guy?

SI: Shaq

Fishburne: Shaq's the best? Well, that's who Morpheus would be.

--Richard Deitsch

Issue date: February 3, 2003

 

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